Tuition Help for Military Children

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Like all parents, service members often need help to pay the high cost of tuition -- especially for college. Fortunately, many scholarships, assistance programs, and benefits exist just for the children of service members. There are programs for a student whose parent has died or been injured on active duty. There are programs open to a wider group of military children, too. In addition to more traditional forms of aid, in-state tuition is now available in some states for service members' children who couldn't get these lower rates before. Beyond the tuition costs, a once-a-year travel benefit is available for some students with military parents assigned outside the continental U.S. Taken together, thousands of dollars are available for school if military families know where to look. The following information will help point you in the right direction.

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Where to start

Many programs require parents to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. This form is required when applying for most types of federal aid. Some schools and scholarship programs also use it to screen applicants for tuition help.

Students fill out the FAFSA form, but parents must also provide financial information if the student is their dependent. The form requires the previous year's tax return and other tax information for the student and parents, as well as bank statements and investment information.

There are critical deadlines involved in completing the FAFSA before the coming school year, so it's best to check the Web site many months before the student plans to start school.

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Types of scholarships

Some scholarships are open to all children of service members, including those whose parents have retired from the military. For most of these scholarships, the student or parent must meet certain requirements. These requirements may prevent your child from qualifying for some scholarships, but when your child does meet them, she may face less competition for scholarship money.

A scholarship program may ask that the student or the student's parent meet one or more specific requirements, for example:

• Branch. The parent must belong to a certain service branch.
• Specialty. The parent must be part of a specialty within the service, such as submarines or Special Forces.
• Hometown. The child must live in a certain town.
• Future career. The child must plan a career in a certain area, such as computer science or engineering.
• Organization membership. The parent or grandparent must belong to certain military-related organizations, such as the American Legion.
• Heritage. The child must be descended from specific veterans, like Union or Confederate soldiers.
• Race and ethnicity. The child must have a certain racial or ethnic background, such as Native American.
• Veteran status. The parent must have served as part of a specific military effort, war, or even on board a specific vessel.
• Disability. The parent must have been injured during military service. Some scholarships even apply to specific types of injury, such as blindness.
• Survivor status. The military parent must have died while serving during specific military actions. These private scholarships supplement other government benefits. Many apply deaths in recent military action, for example, those who lost a parent in the bombing of the USS Cole, or those killed in action since September 11, 2001.
• Plan to study abroad. The child must plan to study outside the country.

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Searching for scholarships

Because there are so many kinds of scholarships, finding one for your son or daughter can be confusing. As you begin your search, be sure to keep the following in mind:

• Target your efforts to the scholarships your child is most likely to receive. Because many scholarship programs ask applicants to write long essays or perform other time-consuming tasks, it's important to encourage your son or daughter to target their efforts to the scholarships they are most likely to receive.
• Be wary. Be cautious of Web sites or agencies that charge money for their searches. There are so many excellent free Web sites available, search centers that charge a fee are likely to be a waste of money. There are some questionable and even crooked scholarship programs. Avoid scholarships for which a student must pay an application fee. These scholarships are often frauds. Before applying for any scholarship, do some research to be sure the program is legitimate. And be sure to be careful about sending out financial-aid forms. The information they contain could allow someone to steal your identity.
• Look at the many free Web sites available to help parents and students find scholarships. A comprehensive review of college scholarship Web sites is available at www.collegescholarships.org. This site profiles the top scholarship sites and gives tips on how to use them.

Military families will want to take a look at Military.com's search engine geared to military dependents under the "Scholarship" portion of the Web site at www.military.com.

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Specific scholarship and loan programs

Several scholarships focus on military children. Many are sponsored by military aid groups. They include scholarships sponsored by:

• Air Force Aid Society, which provides the General Henry H. Arnold Education Grant Program that gives grants to children of active-duty Air Force members, as well as some Reservists and retirees. Grants are needs-based. Successful applicants may receive as much as $2,000 for their direct education costs. See www.afas.org.
• Army Emergency Relief, which provides the MG James Ursano Scholarship Fund for children of active-duty Soldiers, retirees, or those who died in service. These scholarships aren't only for undergraduate studies; they can be used for vocational training and to help a student prepare to enter a military academy. See www.aerhq.org.
• Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, which provides several programs for the children of members of the Marine Corps and Navy. One of the best known is the Vice Adm. E.P. Travers Scholarship and Loan program, which provides financial help to children and spouses of active-duty and retired Sailors and Marines. The programs provide both scholarships and interest-free loans. There are scholarships for children of those killed in action, with special scholarships for children whose parents died on the USS Cole or at the Pentagon. There are also scholarships for students with a parent who served on the USS Tennessee submarine. See www.nmcrs.org.
• Scholarships for Military Children, which gives at least one scholarship for every commissary. The scholarships of at least $1,500 per student are supported by the companies that sell goods to the Defense Commissary Agency, or DeCA. See www.militaryscholar.org.

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Loans

The federal government offers some low- and no-interest loans, although they are not specifically designed for service members' children. Several types of loans are available. These loans require students to complete the FAFSA form. Parents apply and pay for the PLUS loan. Students apply and pay for Stafford and Perkins loans. Different loans operate differently, so it's important to read about them carefully before applying. The earlier students apply, the more likely they may be to receive the Perkins loans, which are the least costly of the student loans. For detailed information, search the Department of Education Web site at studentaid.ed.gov.

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Grants

General federal grant programs are available for students, although they are not limited to children of service members. The most notable is the Federal Pell Grant, which is given to students based on financial need. Unlike a loan, the grant does not need to be repaid. Students receive a specific amount of money each year. To be eligible, students must be earning a bachelor's degree. As with most government assistance, the first step toward receiving a Pell Grant is to complete and submit the FAFSA form at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Information is also available at studentaid.ed.gov.

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Veterans' benefits

The VA offers programs that help cover the cost of tuition for military service members and -- in some cases-- their dependents.

• The GI Bill. If you are eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, you may be able to transfer the benefits to your children. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is available to service members on active duty since September 11, 2001. To transfer benefits, you must have been serving on active duty or in the Reserves as of August 1, 2009 and meet certain time-in-service requirements. Details are available at www.gibill.va.gov.

If you are eligible to transfer your GI Bill benefits, the benefits cover the cost of in-state tuition and fees at a public institution. The benefits are available to your dependent children until they reach age 26.

• Dependents Educational Assistance, offered through the VA, is given to children whose parent died, is permanently and totally disabled from active duty service, is listed as missing in action, or is a prisoner of war.

• The program includes assistance for undergraduate and graduate programs, certificate programs, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training. Children may use this benefit between the ages of 18 and 26. For more information, visit www.gibill.va.gov.

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In-state tuition benefits

Military service often requires cross-country moves. These moves can be especially difficult if a family has a student in a state or public college.

State colleges usually offer two different tuition rates for their students: a cheaper rate for state residents and a more expensive rate for students who are not state residents, or whose parents are not state residents. At nearly all schools, the difference can be thousands of dollars a year.

Obviously, qualifying for in-state tuition would be a great money saver for a military family with a student in college. Traditionally, some colleges required students or their parents to live in the state for a year before qualifying for in-state tuition. Other times, students were denied in-state tuition because their military parents were legal residents of another state. Even worse, students whose parents moved out of the state could lose their in-state status in the middle of their studies.

In recent years, in-state tuition policies have been changed in many states to benefit military families. Every state is different, and some public colleges can even have their own policies. The best place to check the policies in a specific state is the government's In-State Tuition Web site at www.hrc.army.mil/site/education/InState/index.htm. The information is also available from individual colleges.

A student can be eligible for in-state tuition in at least one -- and sometimes all -- of the following circumstances:

• The student attends college in the state where the student, or the student's parent, is a legal resident.
• The student attends college in the state where the student and the student's parents are stationed.
• The student continues his or her education at the same school even though the student's military parents have moved to another state.

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Speaking with your child's future school

Students should always talk with financial-aid counselors at the schools they wish to attend. Many offer scholarships that are not widely advertised. Others are willing to present students with grants, work-study programs, internships, and other sources of financial support. In-state tuition rates might be negotiable in certain circumstances as well and then given essentially as a scholarship.

Military children -- who have often traveled widely and may be more mature than their fellow students -- are frequently an asset to a campus. Well qualified military children with excellent grades are often in a position to negotiate with the school of their choice for needed financial aid.

Be sure to pursue financial aid throughout your child's education. Keep in mind that many scholarships and grants are given to older students, rather than incoming freshman. For example, some schools reserve a portion of their scholarship, paid internship, and grant programs for juniors and seniors who are promising students in their field of study.

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Travel benefits

Most students enjoy coming home for holidays and summer breaks while they attend college. But when a parent is stationed outside CONUS, the cost of travel can make that trip out of the question. Fortunately, there are specific regulations that cover the cost of travel for college students in these cases, and they apply not only to foreign countries but to Hawaii and Alaska as well.

The government will pay for one round trip each calendar year for college students if:

• The rest of the family is living OCONUS with the military member. In other words, the military parent is on an accompanied tour and the student is sponsored by the command.
• The service member has custody of the college student.
• The student is not married and is less than 23 years old, although there are some exceptions as to age.
• The student is attending an accredited college or school to obtain an undergraduate degree or post-secondary vocational or technical training.
• The student attends school full time -- at least 12 credit hours.

Before students receive this benefit, they must first travel to the military parent's home on PCS, or permanent change of station, orders. For example, if a student's family moves to Hawaii in October while he is attending school at the University of Colorado, he can finish the semester and then fly to Hawaii for winter break on the PCS orders. After that, one round trip each calendar year will be paid by the government. This means that the student's return to school and flight back to Hawaii would be covered. But he would have to wait one calendar year after his return to school -- the first leg of the round trip -- before receiving military-paid travel again.

This travel benefit must be authorized through the service member's command and completed through the military travel office. For more information see the travel coordinator on your installation.

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Other resources

FinAid: The SmartStudent® Guide to Financial Aid

www.finaid.org

Offers extensive general information about finding and selecting student aid -- including tips on filling out the FAFSA form, descriptions of the different types of federal grant and loan programs, and financial-planning calculators.

MilitaryStudent.org

www.militarystudent.dod.mil

Provides links to many other sites helpful for military students entering college, including information on financial aid.

ScholarshipHelp.org

www.scholarshiphelp.org

Helps guide families through the scholarship search process with specific information about organizing and preparing to apply for scholarships.

StudentJobs.gov

www.studentjobs.gov

Students can look for federal government jobs set aside just for them using this site and search engine.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)

1621 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20009

1-800-959-8277

www.taps.org

This program's Web site provides information about education benefits for the survivors of those killed on active duty as well as a variety of resources for surviving families.

Your child's school

Many high school counselors and other teachers have valuable information about scholarships and other financial help, especially about local programs that may not be described on major Internet scholarship search engines.

Your installation's support services

Each service branch sponsors information and support programs for service members and their families. You can call or visit any installation Army Community Service Center, Marine Corps Community Services, Fleet and Family Support Center, or Airman and Family Readiness Center regardless of your branch affiliation.

If you aren't near an installation, National Guard Family Assistance Centers are available in every state. The Local Community Resource Finder on the National Guard Family Program at www.guardfamily.org will identify your closest center.

Military OneSource

This free 24-hour service is available to all active duty, Guard, and Reserve members (regardless of activation status) and their families. Consultants provide information and make referrals on a wide range of issues, including finances and education. Free face-to-face counseling sessions (and their equivalent by phone or online) are also available. Call 1-800-342-9647 or go to www.MilitaryOneSource.com to learn more.

This article was written with the assistance of Dr. Jean L. Silvernail; Chief of Military Child in Transition and Deployment, Department of Defense State Liaison Office.

© 2006, 2010 Ceridian Corporation, Military OneSource. All rights reserved. 033110

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